Canon users, did you see what Nikon has?

Automated AF fine tune built-in camera...

http://www.dpreview.co​m …e-tune-explained#comments

(scroll to the top to begin the article)

How many would like to see this for Canon cameras?
(I would!)

Seems so obvious, it's surprising it's not been implemented yet. Does ML have an option for this?

Yes, I'd like to have it for sure. Wouldn't it be nice to not have the excuse of an uncalibrated lens for your soft photos? I imagine Canon will get with it sooner than later.

travisvwright wrote in post #17980957
Seems so obvious, it's surprising it's not been implemented yet. Does ML have an option for this?

In the article's comment section some one said ML does have it, but not for newer cameras.

Interesting, but it seems somewhat limited...

"the calibration value can't be adjusted for either end of a zoom. Furthermore, only the center point can be calibrated - the camera assumes that the calibration at the factory ensures all points are consistent with one another and, importantly, the center point"

Both those can be drawbacks.

Also "sometimes the optimal value can change based on subject distance." However that can be a problem regardless of what type of MFA is being used. The Automated system in the new Nikon would at least allow quick re-adjustments to be made just prior to important shots, if using a lens that you know tends to focus shift (such as the EF 50/1.2L).

DP Review also notes that the Reikan FoCal automated micro focus adjustment system is more comprehensive, though it requires a test target and the camera needs to be tethered to a computer during testing. FoCal works on most (all?) Canon bodies that have MFA, as well as most Nikon and others. It's fully automated in most cases, too. A few of the most-recent Canon (7DII and later) with new AF systems require a little bit of manual user intervention, but I'd wager future upgrades to FoCal will eventually deal with those minor shortcomings.

amfoto1 wrote in post #17981098
Interesting, but it seems somewhat limited...

"the calibration value can't be adjusted for either end of a zoom. Furthermore, only the center point can be calibrated - the camera assumes that the calibration at the factory ensures all points are consistent with one another and, importantly, the center point"

Both those can be drawbacks.

Also "sometimes the optimal value can change baser on subject distance." However that can be a problem regardless of what type of MFA is being used. The Automated system in the new Nikon would at least allow quick re-adjustments to be made just prior to important shots, if using a lens that you know tends to focus shift (such as the EF 50/1.2L).

DP Review also notes that the Reikan FoCal automated micro focus adjustment system is more comprehensive, though it requires a test target and the camera needs to be tethered to a computer during testing. FoCal works on most (all?) Canon bodies that have MFA, as well as most Nikon and others. It's fully automated in most cases, too. A few of the most-recent Canon (7DII and later) with new AF systems require a little bit of manual user intervention, but I'd wager future upgrades to FoCal will eventually deal with those minor shortcomings.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. I have yet to read anything about the effectiveness of this feature on a variety of lenses under real world shooting conditions. If anyone has seen something substantive I'd love to read about it. It may not be as effective as the hype implies.

Sounds like a useful feature that would certainly speed up setting lenses.
Speaking only for my gear I have found that Canon has gone one step better. I have 3 EOS film bodies, two EOS DSLR bodies and 6 EF lenses and they all are spot on - though I haven't tried all my Film bodies on my 800mm yet.
Sounds like a nice feature but I would prefer better QC where possible/affordable.

Where a body has the option for MFA, and there is a Magic Lantern port for that body it will do auto Dottune MFA for you. If the body has Wide/Tele option AFAIK it will allow you to set both ends. The ML software will also allow you to run it on an off center AF point, if you want to, at least on my 50D (I just checked). With my Sigma 150-600 C which works with the Sigma Dock to do 16 point in lens AFMA it will also help there, as you simply run the AFMA test at each of the 16 focal length/distance combinations, I would recommend doing all the zoom settings at each distance first, as it saves setting up time, I saw some suggesting doing the distances in turn, then repeating for the changes in focal length. Anyway with the Sigma you would need to note the AFMA value for each position and then program the settings off the camera using the dock. You would then want to go back and double check that the Sigma/Canon values match.

There was some mention in the original link that AFMA can change with environmental conditions, I don't know how important that is as I havn't really found a problem with focus using my Sigma 20-40 f/2.8 as a standard zoom on any of my APS-C bodies, when I checked the AFMA using ML's auto Dottune it repeatedly came out at 0 when testing at my average sort of shooting distance of about 12'. Since it is so easy to run, if I let it average four runs of the test it takes less than five minutes to complete. This means that as long as you have something to keep the camera stationary, and a suitable flat subject to use as a test target it is possible to AFMA quickly and simply on location, in the conditions in which you will be shooting.

As an aside, again based on a comment on the original link, ML is not really a firmware hack in the true sense. The only hack in the firmware is the one that lets the camera operating system run other non standard software. All of the useful stuff in ML is actually based on running alternative software packages on the camera. There are even a couple of "game" ports that have been written to run on the Canon camera platform. Some of the ML software is camera model specific, because of course it may well require the presence of particular bits of hardware. What would be great, but I don't see happening, is if Canon would by default allow the running of other software on the camera operating system. Allowing their own and also third party software to be run on the cameras. Wouldn't apps for cameras be great? It is already possible since that is what ML does, and Canon could officially support it on most of their cameras with a simple firmware update.

Alan